Breathing Starlight
by The Genius Mage
Summary: "Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?" Noel said after another lull had appeared in the conversation. "I don't think I've seen you so excited to leave the village since…well…ever, actually." Noel, and Yeul, and little wonders left in a dying world that still had something to offer. Light NoelxYeul, one-shot.


**~*Breathing Starlight*~**

_She was young and ancient and many other things, but to Noel she was always simply Yeul._

~*X*~

"So, you've seen it, huh?"

The sky was a featureless blue-gray, and that was likely the brightest it even knew how to _be_ anymore. Ragged black spires punctured the heavens—the remnants of mountains that had long since forgotten the color green—and off-white sand stretched away from them as far as the eye could see. Monsters could be lurking anywhere, and the air was still as death.

Not a single aspect of that mattered, because the girl at his side brightened it all considerably.

Noel continued to speak, making a gesture with his hand to emphasis his point. "Visions of green plains and flowing water. Whole _cities_ of people. Even _trees_. But was that the future...or the past?"

Yeul's steady green gaze drifted away from the path they were walking on and up to his face. She looked amused; he could see it, and the corners of her lips quirked up. "It's the future. _A_ future."

"It can't be_ ours_, can it?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not ours; but we will be in it."

He frowned, helping her up and over a formation of rocks that had toppled down from the surrounding hills. Noel had no idea where they were going, but Yeul had insisted that they head out this way. As he heaved her up, he grunted, "Are we gonna be time traveling or somethin'?"

She gripped a dead root that was squashed between two large stones and used it for balance. Yeul's eyes acquired that distant look it always did when she was thinking hard. "I don't know for certain. But I believe so."

Noel sprang right up on top of the rockslide in one leap, turning around to offer the Seeress a hand. "Heh, I can see that. Maybe by then I'll be the immortal Guardian, and I'll have taken you someplace better."

A soft chuckle escaped her and she allowed herself to be hefted up. Yeul balanced, lithe as a deer, on the edge of the rocks and looked out over the desolate landscape. She was apparently searching for landmarks or some kind of clue to the location that only she knew about. "But if you're to be Guardian, it means you'll have killed Caius."

Noel scowled deeply and folded his arms. "That's what he _wants_ to think, but I'm sure there's some other way to pass the power along without resorting to killing. There are hardly any people around as it is; we can't _afford_ to keep following that old tradition."

"True," Yeul murmured, dropping her eyes. "Perhaps the Goddess will show us another way..."

Hastily, he clapped a hand to her shoulder and grinned. "Hey, hey, no worrying about that. It's still a ways away now. Let's just focus on finding this cavern of yours."

Some sort of emotion he couldn't identify continued to linger about her for an instant or two, but it was gone quickly. She nodded, and pointed to the west. "We need to continue upwards."

"Into the mountains?" Noel lifted a hand over his eyes to shield it from the glare of distant sunlight. "I bet there's all kinds of monsters in there, you know. Things could turn ugly."

Yeul's lips quirked upwards. "I'm sure you'll be able to protect me, Noel."

Ignoring the heat around his cheeks, he thumped a fist to his chest, scoffing. "Yeah, that's right! Just leave it to me. There's not a monster alive that's strong enough to get past _me_."

She hummed her quiet laughter and jumped straight down without his aid. Noel very nearly reached out in alarm to grab her, but she simply skipped along the various toppled boulders until she reached the bottom. "Come on, Noel!" She called back cheerfully.

"Yeul! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Wait up!"

To say there was a road would be lying. There wasn't any road, but _perhaps _there was the barest hint of game trails left by monsters far larger than Noel honestly wanted to confront with Yeul nearby. If they searched hard enough, they could locate the faint tracks and use them to climb higher up the craggy peaks. It made the task somewhat easier, though it wasn't really a cakewalk either way.

Noel was actually impressed with his friend's tenacity. She looked so delicate, but not once did she ask him to slow down or stop. Every step was firm and precise as she trekked up, one foot after the other.

That didn't mean that he wasn't keeping a very close eye on her, just in case. Or that he wasn't intentionally avoiding moving quickly.

"Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?" Noel said after another lull had appeared in the conversation. "I don't think I've seen you so excited to leave the village since…well…_ever_, actually."

Yeul looked almost smug about something, but on her face, it just seemed cute to him. "In one of my visions, I saw something very interesting…I think it was a long time ago," she admitted. "But I also think it is still there."

"Really?" He was understandably skeptical, and he peered down at her from further up the path with curiosity. "Despite, you know, the whole Cocoon cataclysm thing?"

"Yes. Despite the whole 'Cocoon cataclysm thing'."

"Well, you're the Seeress. You haven't been wrong yet, and I'm not about to doubt you now." Noel shrugged, glancing around their current location for a suitable place to rest. He was rewarded with the sight of a large tree trunk, its bark dark and stiff with age, resting along the base of another hill. "Hey, are you tired? Let's stop here for a while."

She nodded, and he waited for her to take a seat before he did the same.

The view from there wasn't much different than below. Stretches of dull brown and gray fields—bleak, empty, with broken and rotten husks being the only remnants of a forest from ages past dotting it—the odd cloud, and in the far distance…

The impact crater of the once magnificent city of Cocoon. The earth nearby was still forced upwards and cracked thanks to shockwaves that had emanated from the site that fateful day. Faraway crystalline dust glittered like a mockery of the sea within its depths.

"…Noel," Yeul said quietly.

He looked at her quickly. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. Her hands were folded in her lap and her eyes were closed, head bowed.

"Are you tired? Hungry? I brought—" He began to reach for his bag, but she lifted a hand and showed another smile.

"No, Noel, I'm fine. I just saw something…"

"Another vision? Are you feeling all right?" Noel couldn't help but fret, and that anxiety made him fidget.

Yeul sounded affectionately exasperated. "_Yes_, I'm all right. I promise that today…" Her eyes opened again slowly, glimmering with echoes of Etro's golden magic. "…Is not the day I must say goodbye."

Noel clenched his hands at his side. "Good," he muttered.

She continued to kindly smile at him before she let her gaze track out over the landscape. That same smile gradually faded to nothing, leaving her serene and mysterious. "…Sometimes, even _I_ don't know what the future holds."

"…You don't?"

Another head shake. "No. I can see _parts_ of the future, but it is always subject to change. Nothing has stayed the same as of late. Sometimes…I don't like what I see."

Sitting up straighter, he frowned at her. "What have you been seeing?"

"…A battle…it has been going on longer than I could ever understand. Neither side will back down. The participants are fighting for loved ones…and that is the greatest motivator of all."

"Do you know who they are?"

Yeul was silent for so long that he thought she was ignoring him, but eventually she did answer. "It is subject to change," she repeated. "Both sides will gain new participants...and I don't know who the winner will be." She stood up and began to walk along the mountain again. "We should continue, before it gets too late."

Noel was troubled by what he had heard. A battle? What about it was making the Seeress so nervous? He was supposed to protect her, but there was nothing he could do about her thoughts and visions. He had a feeling she wasn't really willing to discuss it, though she had brought it up to start with.

He decided to let the matter rest…for now.

Jogging to her side, he looked down at his dearest friend. She was taking long strides—for her, anyway—her back entirely straight, her eyes forward. As if she was attempting to outdistance something, he mused to himself.

That little crease in her forehead meant she was worrying.

An idea snuck its way into his mind, and he couldn't help but smirk with anticipation as it solidified into a solid concept.

"Yeul?"

"Yes, Noel?"

"We've got to get to the top of this peak as fast as possible, right?"

She glanced at him. "At least before it's fully dark."

"Well, I know a faster way than this. Hang on!"

Grinning wider at her startled shriek—(it quickly dissolved into laughter)—he pulled her into his arms and started running. Even carrying her bridal-style, she wasn't heavy in the slightest. He swore that she was lighter than the swords on his back.

"N-Noel!" Yeul slapped a hand to his shoulder, but he hardly felt it. " What are you doing? You're going to tire yourself out!"

"What, you think? Please, I can barely tell you're there." He snickered. "You're light as a bird, you know."

"But what If we run into a monster?"

He shrugged, powerful bounds chewing up the distance to their destination much faster than their (relatively) slow, casual pace before. Not straining Yeul had been his priority, but this way he didn't have to fret about pushing her too hard. "We'll be fine, I promise. I said I'd protect you, didn't I?"

Yeul was silent for a moment, but then she gripped him and leaned in closer. He felt his entire face burn and he knew she could tell, just from the giggle embedded in her words. "Yes. You did."

"Then you don't have to worry about anything," he grunted, scrambling up a slope. "Just leave it to me."

She didn't answer, but when his steps found more even ground, she rested her head against him.

~*X*~

"Well, this is it." Noel slowed to a stop and observed the wide cave mouth that opened up before them. "The end of the road. Is this what you were looking for, Yeul?"

He set her down, and she walked forward a few steps, fingers tapping her chin as she thought. Noel glimpsed the hesitation flitting in her eyes before the pale green lit up with excitement. "Yes! This is it. It looks exactly as it should."

"Looks like an empty cave to me."

"It's anything but." Yeul tipped her head back and stared up at the sky. It was turning a dark blood red as sunset fell, bathing the world in its crimson glow. "We've arrived at a good time." She turned to him and put on the biggest smile he had ever seen. "Thank you, Noel!"

(His heart just about exploded.)

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I-It's nothing. You know I'd do anything for you." Humor laced his words. "Even spending half the day carrying you up a mountain."

Yeul hummed with amusement again and headed straight into the cave. Noel quickly followed, on edge, just in case any monsters were lurking about. However, the interior was wide and empty…surprisingly clean, as well, save for a few dried-up plants shriveling up in the furthest corners. The big flat stone room seemed as if it would be perfect for a monster den, but for whatever reason, none were present. In fact the only beasts they had seen had been some slimy flans much further down, but they had been preoccupied with their mud-hole and had paid the two no mind.

"A long time ago," Yeul began in her soft, detached voice. "This cavern was sacred to the Farseers." She traced her fingers along the walls, and he saw them brush against archaic paintings and carvings that had nearly completely faded with age. The more she spoke, the more it seemed as if someone else was talking. A girl from a different time. "Priests and priestesses that served…"

She paused.

"…That served me would gather here." She continued to walk, going around the entire cavern, with Noel rotating in place to face her always. "They would partake in a ritual that was said to heighten their connection to the Goddess, Etro. A special stone was to be carefully mined from within and grinded into a fine powder as part of the procedure. If used during the right circumstances…it granted a flash of enlightenment to those Divine Etro found worthy."

Noel didn't like seeing her like this. She seemed to be carrying the weight of every incarnation on her shoulders. "Why did the cavern fall out of use?"

Yeul's gaze very slowly moved to meet his. It was as if he was meeting the eyes of the Goddess herself, so _ancient_ was that stare. "One day…a priest that had briefly been allowed to share the knowledge of Etro fell before me on his knees. He asked me why, with all my wisdom and the Goddess's blessing, did I allow the events of the future to occur without change?"

She stopped circling.

"I told him that I exist to predict the future and to guide, but I am not to interfere…to cause changes in the timeline. He couldn't understand how I could live with such foresight…and I understood." Yeul closed her eyes. "Even if the moment of enlightenment was brief, it was not something that should be imparted to anyone that has not been prepared. Being presented with all the knowledge of the world does not make it wisdom unless one _understands_. I forbid the use of this place because I didn't need my Eyes to sense the danger that would surely come, if knowledge was imparted without understanding. Even if it was just for a few moments..."

"...I see. But why did you bring me here?" Noel asked after a period had gone by with nothing said.

When Yeul at last opened her eyes again, she was back to the Yeul that he knew. His shoulders sagged slightly with relief. She smiled at him and approached. "That special mineral has been gone for many centuries," she said. "But there is still something of interest here."

"Oh_ really_? And what's that?"

She knelt beside one of the brown-green plants drooping along the cracks of the walls. He watched, perplexed, as she dug around in the dirt. It wasn't long before she straightened up, obviously pleased, cupping something between her hands. "Follow me."

He did so, and they went back outside. Night had fully eclipsed the world, and the moon shone overhead, framed by its network of eternal stars.

Noel scratched his head. "Caius is going to throw a fit if we're not back early tomorrow." Traveling down the mountain in the night would be nothing short of suicide, since monsters were more active then and they'd not be able to see the already very faint trail. Good thing he had brought some outdoor equipment beforehand…

Yeul shook her head. "He knows we're safe, and that we will reach the village safely as well in time."

"Heh, if you say so, Yeul."

She made sure he was looking before lifting her cupped hands close to her mouth. "Noel, watch carefully."

He swept an arm out to indicate that he was, and she should get on with it.

Her eyes slipped shut again, and Yeul took in a quiet breath before blowing. What happened next startled him.

A burst of brilliant white-gold flared out from between her hands, spraying into the air and sparkling more intensely than even the stars above. It was as if she had begun to breathe fire. He openly gawked as the dazzling display lingered for longer than he had dared to hope before it finally faded away to nothing.

As Yeul wiped her hands clean of any remaining dirt and grit with a satisfied expression, Noel launched into a barrage of questions.

"What—Just _what _was that…?! Some kind of…some kind of magic? A trick? I just…" He let out a low whistle. "That was _incredible_, Yeul!"

She smiled. "I'm glad you thought so…and it's not magic. It's the residue—all that is left—of what was once in that cavern."

"Can you do it again?"

The corners of her mouth kept twitching. "Yes. And you can do it as well."

Yeul took him back inside the cave and helped him to collect some of the odd, clear, grainy, crystal-ish material that was buried beneath the dirt and dust of the place. They were careful not to take all of it, since it seemed such a precious thing, even if it really was just a pale echo of something more magnificent.

"Fold your hands like this…yes, like that. Place your mouth here."

Noel continued to copy her, feeling the strange substance—warm and surprisingly somewhat heavy—brushing against his palms.

"Take a deep breath in through your nose, and blow."

He did so, and just like before, a cloudy tendril of gold-white light exploded forward. It could best be described as watching a firework up close without any of the hazards, not that Noel had ever actually seen a firework before. He thought that surely _this _was better.

Yeul broke into a fit of giggles suddenly. The joy dancing across her face and the flickering shadows created by the glimmering dust made for a breathtaking picture, and Noel was dazed by how lovely she was for a moment or three.

"You look so happy, Noel. I'm glad I got to show you…" Her smile waned a little and she stepped nearer to him, standing directly at his side now. She still hadn't blown into her hands yet, bringing them to her chest and over her heart instead. "Noel."

"Uh—Yeah? Yes?" He stammered, finally locating his voice.

"Lives are a lot like this." Her tone was so soft that he scarcely heard. Cast against the light of the moon, she once more appeared wise and mysterious. "They blaze so resplendent against the fabric of time, of the world…and quickly fade, when compared to the grand scale of things. But…never forget…"

Yeul lifted his hand, poured the crystalline powder into his palm, and curled his fingers around it loosely. Thrice that day, Noel cursed blushes and whoever had invented them as she brought her lips close to his hand and gently blew.

This time, a little slower and fanning out a little wider, the spray of ivory and gold sparkles created something almost akin to a constellation. He watched it with silent wonder—and how it played with the green in Yeul's eyes—listening to her speak again.

"The light of a life can fade. But it doesn't mean one has to forget what effect it may have had.

Noel looked at her and murmured, "Yeul…"

She said nothing as she was prone to do, instead opting to lean against his shoulder and smile instead.

~*X*~

_Author's Note: I actually very much like Yeul and thus this fic came into existence! Good grief I haven't actually published any fanfiction in a long while but I hope you enjoyed if you stuck around to read it all, and thanks for doing so!_


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